Shortly after Smith realized viewers saw the video, the channel cut to a Mesothelioma commercial before quickly returning to the flustered anchor, who immediately said to viewers, "Well ... some explaining to do."

Smith then apologized and explained how his crew attempted to prevent viewers from watching the live suicide but failed to do so. He said FNC put the chase on a five-second delay so they could prevent viewers from seeing anything that might have gone "horribly wrong."

"We really messed up," Smith said. "And we're all very sorry. That didn't belong on TV. We took every precaution we knew how to take to prevent that from being on TV, and I personally apologize to you that that happened."

"That won't happen again on my watch. And I'm sorry."

Fox News executive vice president of news editorial Michael Clemente issued the following statement: "We took every precaution to avoid any such live incident by putting the helicopter pictures on a five second delay. Unfortunately, this mistake was the result of a severe human error and we apologize for what viewers ultimately saw on the screen."